Juice
by Canon Archives
Summary: More happened on that island than Rick told us about. Leo fell for her hard, and this is a bunch of missing moments on the island that make it clear why he literally dies to get back to her. Here's the missing juice.
1. Day 1

**A/N: So basically I was listening to the HoH audiobook and decided that Rick Riordan didn't give us enough juice while Leo was on the island. You know, the good juicy stuff. The stuff that makes you go, "oh** ** _that's_** **why he's dying to get back to her!" (Literally) I realized that Rick gave no detail about two whole days that they were working together, and I'm like, it does** ** _not_** **take Leo Valdez three entire days to make a small little navigation device. So obviously, there must be a lot of other things that happened in those two extra days besides working.**

 **No it's not smutty. Just very flirty. Come on. They didn't spend the whole time pretending to hate each other.**

 **Disclaimer: The characters, the world, and the two scenes you recognize from the book all belong to Rick Riordan.**

 **Here's the juice.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Three days.

That's how long it took to make the guidance console. And it was in those three days that everything changed.

The first day, she had come over to ask if he needed any help. She had already collected up a bunch of supplies and food for his journey, and she seemed eager to be productive. So he asked her to make a fireproof baggie for Frank, and to chip off a crystal from her cave. Both requests she waved off as things she could do quickly and easily.

"What can I do now, while my hands are dirty?"

She held up her hands, and Leo felt a strange pull in his gut when he looked at them. They were strong and calloused, covered in dirt from the garden. He had a sudden urge to reach out and touch them.

He swallowed and shook off his odd reaction.

"Well, you could twist some more bronze coils," He suggested, gesturing to his project. "But that's kind of specialized – "

She was already sitting down to look, taking the coils into her hands. He cut himself off to watch as she began twisting the wires, her forehead creased in concentration.

"Just like weaving," she said, her fingers beginning to work faster. "This isn't so hard."

Leo's eyes were locked to her hands as they worked, and he realized he wasn't breathing. His throat went dry.

"Huh," he managed. His voice was hoarse. He blinked and forced his eyes to look back down at his own work. "Well if you ever get off this island and want a job, let me know," he said. "You're not a total klutz."

She grinned and glanced up at him. "A job, eh?" She asked. "Making things in your forge?"

"Nah, we could start our own shop," he replied. Starting a repair shop had always been a dream of his, but he had never really mentioned it to anybody. He had buried that dream a while back since the likelihood of it happening was so slim. But now, sitting on this peaceful island with Calypso, the idea suddenly seemed plausible again. "Leo and Calypso's Garage," he made up a name, "Auto Repair and Mechanical Monsters."

Calypso's smile grew. "Fresh fruits and vegetables," she added.

"Cider and stew," he included. A vivid image of this imaginary life formed in Leo's mind, clearer than it ever had been before. "We could even provide entertainment. You could sing and I could, like, randomly burst into flames."

Calypso laughed. A real, light-hearted laugh that filled the air with joy. It was the first time since he met her that she seemed genuinely happy. Leo's heart soared.

"See, I'm funny," he bragged, proud that he had successfully broken her moody streak.

Calypso quickly dropped her smile, but he could still see the amusement in her eyes. "You are _not_ funny," she insisted. "Now get back to work or no cider and stew."

"Yes ma'am." He snickered quietly, her bright smile still lingering in his mind.

They worked in silence the rest of that day, but her very presence caused him to keep getting distracted. It was those amazing hands. His eyes would wander to look at what she was doing, and his own fingers would periodically go limp. Even the Hephaestus children at camp did not work as swiftly and fluidly as Calypso did. It was like her hands had a mind of their own. She sometimes would start humming quietly as she worked, which made Leo glance up at her eyes. They were focused on her work, but they also looked sad, like she was far away in her thoughts. Something about it reminded him of when he would work with his mother in their mechanics shop when he was a child. There was a familiarity about her that he couldn't explain. He felt more at ease than he had been in a really long time.

As the sun finally started to get low in the sky, Calypso stood up and stretched. "How about some dinner?" she asked with a yawn. "I can bring it out here, and we can eat on the beach."

Leo stood up as well and nodded. "Sounds good to me," he agreed.

Without a word, they walked back to her cave, and Calypso began preparing stew in the small kitchen area of the cave. Leo took it upon himself to look around her home.

Next to the kitchen alcove, the cave opened up into a giant explosion of crafts.

Actually, it looked not that different from his own cabin on the Argo II, but instead of random tools and mechanical inventions strewn over the tables, every surface was covered in fabrics and yarn, canvases and paint, and all sorts of crafting tools. There were piles of art projects everywhere. It looked like Joann's Fabrics had been raided. An old-fashioned loom sat in the middle of the room.

The cave walls were filled with murals. The colors were vibrant and welcoming. Some showed scenes of people, but mostly the murals were of different kinds of flowers from her garden and intricate designs. Many tapestries hung from the ceiling as well. One showed a scene of an ancient Greek town, of people walking along the street with carts and oxen. It looked like an old marketplace, and the scene was framed in rich shades of red and orange.

Leo walked up to it. "Where is this?" he asked, reaching out to feel the soft, neatly woven fabric.

"Malta," Calypso answered, without even looking up from the stove. She didn't elaborate.

Leo looked over at one of the murals on the wall. It showed a woman in a pale blue toga dress who sat on a small rock. Behind her, a dark choppy river flowed. Her face was turned, covered by a black veil. Leo pressed his hand against the wall. "And who is this?"

Again, Calypso did not even look at what he was pointing to before answering. "My mother," she replied. Her voice was guarded, but Leo thought he heard a hint of bitterness. He turned to where she stood in the kitchen. Her back was to him. She clanked some plates loudly. "Come," she said. "Let's eat before it gets dark."

* * *

They sat on the sand, the cool sea breeze blowing gently while the fiery orange sun sunk over the horizon. It turned the cloudless sky a bright pink, and the colors reflected like a mirror off of the still water.

As they ate, Leo studied Calypso, her caramel-colored hair glowing bronze in the sunlight. She was incredibly beautiful, Leo admitted, despite her annoying qualities. But it was a subtle beauty. She was not the center-of-attention type who all the popular kids wanted to be friends with. She was more the kind that tended to blend into the group, who the football players may mess around with because she was cute and available. Still, she was way too good-looking to give Leo the time of day. In a high school setting, she probably wouldn't even know he existed.

"Thanks," Leo said, breaking the silence. "For helping me out today."

She looked at him and shrugged. "It's nice to do something a bit different for a change," she said. She looked down at something on the sand in front of Leo. "What are you drawing?" she asked curiously.

Leo looked down. He hadn't even realized that his fidgety fingers had been doodling, but it appeared that he had drawn out a tic-tac-toe game into the sand. "Uh, it's a kind of kid's game," Leo told her. "It's called tic-tac-toe."

Calypso scooted around to look at the indented game board more closely. "It's a game?" she asked. "How do you play?"

Leo was a bit surprised that she was so interested. He couldn't remember the last time he had played this childhood game. "We take turns filling in the boxes. One person draws Os in each box and the other person draws Xs," he explained. "You want to be the first to get three in a row." He brushed his arm over the sand to clear the board and drew a new one. "So it can be like this," he drew three Xs vertically, "or like this," he cleared the board again and drew three Xs horizontally, "Or like this," he cleared it again and drew the Xs diagonally.

Calypso smiled and brushed her arm over the sand, and then copied the way he had drawn the game board. She drew an X in the top left box. Leo grinned, trying to ignore how elegantly her fingers brushed over the sand. He drew an O in the middle box. Calypso tried the top middle box. So Leo drew an O in the top right box. Calypso put an X in the bottom left box, so Leo put an O in the middle left box. Calypso put an X in the middle right box, and Leo put an O in the bottom right box. Calypso laughed.

"Now neither of us can get three in a row!" she exclaimed.

Leo laughed too. "Maybe we need to make it harder." He drew more lines in the sand, creating a game board with more boxes. "Now we need to get six in row."

They tried again, and came to the same problem. They both laughed. "I think we're both too smart to make this work," Leo said.

The sunset had faded to a dark purple and it was beginning to get difficult to see. A few fireflies glinted in the warm night, and the crickets chirped quietly.

"Come on," Calypso picked up her now empty dinner plate and stood up. "I should go make that cloth bag you asked for. And you wanted a piece of crystal?"

Leo nodded, standing up as well. They once again walked back to her cave in silence. It was odd, Leo thought, how comfortable the silence was. Normally he wouldn't be able to spend more than five minutes with anyone without awkwardly trying to make conversation.

When they went inside, Calypso lit several candles and lanterns around the cave, creating a shimmering but workable light. She sat down by her loom and unraveled a roll of thread. Leo placed his dishes on the kitchen counter.

He should have just left her to her work, but curiosity got the better of him. He went over to where she sat by her loom. She glanced at him with an odd expression on her face. Her eyes glinted in the candle light.

"Uh," he murmured awkwardly. "Do you mind if… if I watch?" He asked.

She was visibly surprised, and Leo wondered if anyone had ever expressed interest in her work before. "Um, no?" she said, her voice turning up like it was a question. "I - I mean no," she said more decisively, looking away. "I don't mind." She seemed shy all of a sudden, as she gestured for him to pull up a chair.

Leo did so, and watched as she set up the thread on the loom. Her hands worked confidently, like they had with the wires of his guidance console. She began to wrap and weave the thread along the loom gracefully, pulling the strands tightly together into a thin fabric. Leo was mesmerized. He didn't think he had ever seen anything so beautiful in his life.

"Amazing," he murmured quietly. He heard her let out a soft breath and he looked at her face. Was she blushing?

"You're not used to people watching you work, are you?" Leo asked.

Her eyes flickered towards him before returning to focus on the loom. "I weave as a distraction," she said. "When a hero has left, or – " for some reason she stopped herself. "There are rarely other people here to watch me." She said it so matter-of-factly, but Leo could tell there was an underlying sadness in her tone.

"Well you are incredibly talented," he complimented. He couldn't keep the admiration out of his voice. He just couldn't tear his eyes away from her hands.

She shook her head and let out a small huff through her nose, dismissing his compliment. She looked like she wanted to argue, but she kept quiet.

She was right about the bag being quick to make. In no time, she had removed the cloth from the loom and handed Leo a newly-made, firewood safety pouch. "Thanks," Leo smiled, admiring the finished piece.

"What is it for?" Calypso asked. "You said it would save a life?"

Leo nodded. "It's for my friend Frank," he said. "See, his life is kind of attached to this piece of firewood, and he's terrified it will catch fire. If it's in a fireproof pouch though," he held up the bag. "He won't have to worry."

Calypso's lips curved up into a soft smile. "I would like to hear more about your quest," she said. Her voice was very gentle, and it caught Leo a bit off guard. "Perhaps tomorrow."

"Uh, yeah," he agreed. He suddenly felt warm. Something about the way she was looking at him, and her eyes in the candle light –

Leo quickly stood up from his chair. "Um – thanks for dinner," he said awkwardly. "And the bag." He moved toward the door.

"Wait," she stopped him. He turned back to look at her. "You wanted a piece of crystal as well, yes?" she asked, standing up.

"Right," he remembered. She walked passed him towards the entrance of her cave, and grabbed a tool from her garden outside.

She crouched down at the cave entrance and banged her tool against the wall until a small piece of crystal fell to the floor. She picked it up and handed it to Leo.

He took it carefully. The crystal was iridescent, with a slight tint of purple. It was about the size of a small bird's egg, with a ragged edge and a smooth surface. Leo rubbed his thumb over the ragged edge.

"Am I allowed to ask what it is for?" Calypso asked. Leo looked up at her. He couldn't help but notice how her eyes seemed to sparkle just like the crystal.

Leo tilted his head. "I dunno," he replied, looking back at the crystal in his hand. "I'll let you know when I figure it out."


	2. Day 2

**A/N: So I'm sorry, this guy has got it bad. In the book all we really get is him stubbornly denying that he's got it bad, but I'm sorry. He's totally crazy about her, and he knows it.**

 **More juice. Enjoy!**

 **(Disclaimer: Not mine.)**

* * *

The second day, Leo woke up with the sun.

He sat at his makeshift workshop, studying the crystal Calypso had given him the night before. He had drawn a diagram of the astrolabe, trying desperately to figure out how this crystal fit into the device. He was pretty sure it was a kind of honing piece, but he wasn't sure if it was magnetic in some way, or if it held some sort of chemical, or if it was just magic somehow. Odysseus seemed to know it was necessary, but it wasn't like Leo could just hop back in time and ask him. He was going to have to figure it out on his own.

Leo thought about the conversation he'd had with Calypso the day before. Something about working alongside her had sparked the memory of his repair shop dream. He hadn't thought about it in… he didn't know how long. Throughout most of his childhood he was running from foster homes, mostly just worrying about getting enough to eat every day. Since getting to Camp Halfblood and starting on this crazy quest, he was too preoccupied with not being killed to think about the future. But now, he was remembering when he was little and he would describe the place to his mother.

"My shop will be like the center of the world!" He remembered telling her. "I'll fix everything!"

Leo flipped over his astrolabe sketch and began sketching a blueprint. The shop would be at Camp Halfbood. He would have a forge for making weapons and shields for demigods. There would be a giant workshop where he could invent lots of crazy contraptions. Then he would have a little store for selling different trinkets and tools, and the walls would be covered in those tapestries that Calypso had in her cave –

Leo paused his sketch and smiled. She would need her own crafts room, of course. And a kitchen where she could make cider and stew. They could attract customers with the delicious smell of lemonade and spices, and Calypso could grow a big garden in the front of the shop –

"Hey."

Leo jumped, awkwardly trying to cover up his sketch with his hands. "Gods of Olympus, woman, what did I tell you about sneaking up on me like that?"

"Sorry," she said holding up her hands. "I'm ready to work. What do you need?"

"Uh," Leo stood up and attempted to surreptitiously hide his sketch under some papers as he shuffled things around on the work table. He didn't want Calypso knowing that he had been day-dreaming about her. Well he wasn't day-dreaming about _her_ specifically –

"We're doing hardware today," Leo interrupted his own annoying thoughts. He grabbed the rough circuit board they had worked on yesterday from the table. "We need to mold the bronze plate and – hey, do you have anything glass you'd be willing to donate?"

Calypso frowned in thought. "I suppose I have some glassware in the kitchen that I could spare," she suggested. "Need anything else?"

"Just you," he answered distractedly while he gathered up tools and materials. He realized too late how that sounded and he quickly tried to cover. "I mean, you know, your hands," he corrected himself. "Your help."

She gave him a look that he couldn't decipher and then she nodded. "I'll be right back," she said, walking hastily back towards her cave.

Leo sat back on his stool and purposely banged his head down on the table. _Nice going, Valdez._

* * *

Calypso caught on very quickly to the idea of the console when he explained how it needed to be put together. Leo melted down the glass and the metal and molded it like pottery with his hands. He gave Calypso the job of screwing pieces together to create a strong outer hardware for the circuit board. As they worked, Leo told her about their quest.

He told her everything. He told her about Gaea and the night his mother died in the workshop. He told her about the day at the Grand Canyon and getting to Camp Half-Blood. He talked about his friends, and the quest he went on with Jason and Piper. He told her all about Festus and the Argo II, and flying the ship to Camp Jupiter where an eidolon possessed him to accidentally start a war with the Romans. He gave her details about everything the seven of them had encountered since setting off to the Ancient Lands. He told her about the Mark of Athena and the Doors of Death. He told her about Percy and Annabeth falling into Tartarus. And he told her how he ended up here on her island.

They took a break for lunch a little after midday and went back to Calypso's cave. She pulled up some fresh carrots from her garden to make carrot cake. Leo did his best to help, though baking was not really his thing. He began poking around the cave some more, going through all of her crafting things.

He opened drawers full of paint cans and dug through giant piles of canvases on the floor. He found what must have been hundreds of quilts in the closet. There was an entire pile of random paper mache creations. He picked one up. "Is this supposed to be an elephant?" he asked with a snicker.

"Hey," she defended herself. She was in the kitchen doing dishes. "I went through a paper mache phase, okay? About a millennia ago. Wasn't particularly good at it."

Leo opened a trunk and found it completely full of friendship bracelets. "Holy Hephaestus," Leo cackled. "Gods, this is insane! How many of these did you make?"

"7,691," Calypso answered without missing a beat. "That only lasted about ten years, and yes, I counted them."

Leo gawked. "You realize that this is what girls did during the summer when I was like, nine," he said.

"Shut up."

Leo laughed again.

He opened up another closet. "Oh. My. Gods." He picked up a wooden doll and showed Calypso what he'd found with a giant grin on his face. "You went through a _wood work_ phase?"

Calypso grabbed the doll. "Careful!" She exclaimed. "I like this one," she held the doll to her chest. "And yes, I still enjoy wood work." Her eyes widened like she remembered something. She grabbed his arm. " _You_ will _love_ this," she smiled and pulled him outside the cave.

She led him through the woods to the opposite end of the island. She stopped at a clearing and knelt down next to a rock about half the size of Leo. She pushed the rock over to reveal a large hole in the ground.

"What…?" Leo started to ask. Calypso leaned into the hole and lifted out a large box. "Whoa!" Leo grabbed the box before she could drop it and helped her set it down on the ground. "What in the name of Zeus – "

"It's one of my wood work projects!" Calypso told him excitedly. "I completely forgot about it until now!"

She opened the box, revealing a whole bunch of wooden blocks. They were all different shapes and sizes. Leo pulled out one that was about the size of his palm. It was a flat, rectangular block, and on the face it had an intricate star-like design, not unlike the one's on the wall inside her cave. The wood was a dark cherry color, gradated with streaks of lighter brown.

"Wow," Leo said, turning the piece over in his hand. "This is beautiful. You made each of these by hand?"

Calypso nodded and smiled proudly. "I used an old tree that had fallen," she pointed to an old stump that sat a few feet away from them. "I could spend weeks building things with these blocks," she pulled a spherical one out of the box. "Actually, for a while I would create models with the blocks and then paint them, or weave them into a tapestry, or even some of my dresses are based on designs I created with these blocks."

Leo didn't realize he had been staring at her in amazement until she looked at him at smirked. "What?"

Leo grinned and pulled out a handful of blocks, placing them in front of her. He pulled out another handful and placed them in front of himself. Then, he reached into his tool belt, pulled out a stop watch, and set the timer.

"Whoever builds the tallest tower wins," Leo told her.

"What?" Calypso said, perplexed.

Leo grinned wickedly. "Two minutes. Go!"

He immediately began stacking his blocks. Calypso watched him for a moment in confusion, before realizing that she was supposed to building too. "Oh Styx!" She laughed, and quickly started stacking.

"One minute!" Leo called. His tower was already much taller than Calypso's. She was gaining on him though. "30 seconds!" He shouted. He stood up so he could reach the top of his tower. Suddenly, Calypso kicked his tower and it toppled. He looked at her in disbelief. "You cheater!" He kicked down her tower as well and she screeched. They both fell to the ground laughing as the timer beeped.

"That is _not_ how this game is supposed to work," Leo told her. Calypso was still laughing too hard to reply. Leo smiled. She had a beautiful laugh.

She finally caught her breath. "Oh my gods that was so much fun!" She said sitting up. "Let's play again. I promise I won't cheat this time."

They competed a few more times. Leo won, then Calypso won.

"They _are_ my blocks," Calypso said after winning a second time. "They must favor me."

"Oh so the game is rigged?" Leo grinned. "We'll have to make impartial blocks then, 'cause that's just not fair."

"Aw," Calypso feigned sympathy. "I think you just need some carrot cake to make up for the fact that you're such a sore loser," she cooed.

"I am not a sore loser!"

Calypso suddenly gasped. "Oh my gods," she exclaimed, looking at him wide-eyed. "The carrot cake!"

"What?"

"I left it in the oven!" She stood up and began sprinting back across the island.

"Oh Styx!" Leo laughed, chasing after her.

They raced back through the woods towards her cave. "If my cake burns, it is entirely your fault!" She called to him as they ran.

" _My_ fault?" Leo responded from three paces behind her. "How is this _my_ fault?"

"It just is!"

"Aw," he teased. "Did I distract you?"

She rolled her eyes. "You wish."

"I'm gonna take that as a yes," Leo smirked.

They got back to the cave and Calypso rushed to get the cake out of the oven. It was a bit burnt, but it was still edible. They stood in the kitchen picking at the cake with their hands, eating it while it was still warm.

While they ate, Leo glanced at that tapestry of Malta that he had noticed the other day. "So," Leo broke the silence. "Malta. Is that where you grew up?"

Calypso glanced at him, and for a second Leo thought she might snap at him for asking. But instead, her eyes became wistful and she sighed.

"Yes," she replied. "Well sort of. I lived on the island Gozo, which is just north of Malta. The island was not very inhabited, so I would often visit Malta, whenever my father would let me."

"Your father," Leo remembered. "Atlas. He lived on an island?" He tried to recall the mythology. He didn't remember anything about Atlas living on an island near Malta.

Calypso's eyes went dark. "I did not live with my father. But he did not like it when I left Gozo. He thought me young and ignorant, and wanted to keep me out of the way." She scowled. "He said I caused trouble."

Leo frowned. "What? Did you harass the gods with exploding tapestries?"

Calypso gave him a dirty look. "I do not make art explode," she said indignantly. "I wanted to help mortals," she told him. "I liked talking to people in the town, and wanted to use my magic to make their lives better."

"What's wrong with that?" Leo asked.

"It is not the Titan way," Calypso said. "We do not concern ourselves with such weak, insignificant beings." She spoke bitterly, spitting the words out angrily.

"So Atlas would forbid you to help people?" Leo asked incredulously. "That's messed up."

"I was not a schemer the way the other Titans were. I did not use my powers for destruction or indulgence. I liked to create. I liked to give."

Leo smiled. "Well, _that_ I already know," he told her, gesturing to the mess of creations inside the cave. He glanced at the mural he had been looking at the other day, of the mysterious woman in the veil. "What about your mother?" Leo asked. "Did she live with you?"

If possible, Calypso's eyes went even darker. "I never knew my mother," she said. "She was a river goddess. But I do not know who."

"No one ever told you?" Leo raised his eyebrows.

Calypso shrugged. "I was raised by river naiads on Gozo. If my mother wanted me to know she would have come forward. I figure she just didn't care."

Leo looked at her incredulously. How could a mother just ditch her child like that? Calypso talked about it nonchalantly, but he could tell from the bitterness in her eyes that it still bothered her to this day. He realized that being stuck on an island all alone was not something new for this girl. She had been imprisoned, alone, and forgotten her entire life.

He wanted to say something, but he was suddenly at a loss of words. What do you say to something like that? First the girl is ditched by her mother, forbidden to make friends with anyone by her father, and then punished by the gods to continuously be forgotten by every hero that ever meets her. No wonder she was pissed off when Leo first showed up. He would be too.

Actually, he _was_ angry. Really angry. He was angry at Calypso's mother, angry at her father, angry at the gods, and angry at every hero that ever came to Ogygia.

 _I won't ditch you_ , _Calypso,_ Leo wanted to say. _I will come back, even if I die doing it._

Calypso inhaled, and went over to the sink to wash her hands. "We should get back to work, yeah?" she asked without looking at him.

Leo nodded. "Yeah," he said. "Back to work."

* * *

 **A/N: Gods, I'm wanting to write all of this from her point of view too now. I mean he is really good to her. No wonder she fell for him. He cares about the things she's interested in, he wants to know about who she is, and he shows her how to have fun. What more could she want?**


	3. Day 3

**A/N: Okay so the first part is a moment that has been in my head for years and I never found a place for it until now. On principle, they have to have a relatively intimate moment before he leaves. Have I made it clear yet that he's helplessly obsessed with her hands? If not, here's more.**

 **The second part: I rewrote Leo's POV of the leaving scene from the book. All the same dialogue and everything. Please don't hate me for it. I just had to give it juice because there were parts of it that just needed more.**

 **I don't own any of it. It all belongs to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

The third day, it was all about making tweaks and changes to the guidance console.

They had managed to get the machine to turn on, but getting it to work properly was a different story. For about half the day, it would turn on, whir a lot, and then die.

"It's the fan," Leo explained. "It's not working properly. The circuit board keeps heating up too quickly."

"Do we need to make a new one?" Calypso asked. "What's wrong with it?"

Leo tinkered with the piece, trying to see what was happening. "I think it's just not attaching to the rest of the wires. We should recoil the connectors."

They began detaching parts and untwisting the wiring on the circuit board. They stood close enough that Leo could smell her cinnamon breath. It was intoxicating. Both sets of hands worked closely together on the circuit board, and he could almost feel the warmth radiating from her fingers.

They hadn't spoken much since the day before. The guidance console project had become a shared one, and yet Leo knew it was really only him who was going to be using it. Calypso was not coming with him, and Leo felt immensely guilty about it. It had become like a taboo to even mention the fact that he was _actually_ trying to get off this island.

Leo really, really did not want to leave.

 _I have to_ , he told himself. _We have a quest. I'm trying to save the world here!_

But it seemed so wrong for Calypso not to come. She could help them. She could leave with him, find the Argo II, and they could finish this quest together. Defeat Gaea together. That's what made the most sense.

But she was stuck here. The only way to get her off this stupid island was if he broke the curse. He _had_ to come back. A second time. Achieve the impossible. It was the only way.

"Which ones am I twisting, then?" Calypso asked, holding the wires she had just unraveled. "Do I weave these together instead?" She grabbed a different wire in her right hand.

"No, the other one, this one – " He reached over to grab the correct wire, and his hand accidentally brushed against hers. In less than a millisecond he felt like he had been electrocuted, dunked in hot coals, and splashed with ice water simultaneously. Leo tried to swallow and found he couldn't. Time seemed to freeze.

Calypso gently took the wire that he had indicated and slowly twisted it with the other wire. "Like this?" She asked. It was nearly a whisper, but he could feel her breath against his neck.

Leo reminded himself to breathe. His ears were ringing. "Yeah," he managed to choke out.

He knew he should probably move, but he felt paralyzed. His eyes were fixed on her hands as they gracefully moved together. He could feel her eyes watching his face, and her hands slowed.

Before he could stop himself, he looked at her face as well and for a split second their eyes met. Heat spread through Leo's whole body and he was certain he would burst into flame. He quickly moved away and grabbed the wires he had been working with before. He cleared his throat awkwardly.

They finished the task in silence and did not make eye contact again.

* * *

By the time they had finished the console it was after sunset. They had packed all of the supplies that Calypso had collected for his trip and placed the bags on the beach.

Now, they sat on the sand in the place they had apparently designated as the new dinner spot, ever since the dining table had been destroyed. It was a clear night, and the moon looked huge in the star-filled sky. Leo had made a bonfire, and he loved watching the way the firelight flickered off of Calypso's hair, making it look like a shimmering piece of celestial bronze.

"All we need now is a boat," Calypso said, her eyes focused on the horizon. Her tone was chipper, but Leo felt his heart sink just hearing the words. Leaving was the last thing he wanted to be thinking about right now.

"I can start chopping wood into boards tomorrow," he suggested. "Few days, we'll have enough for a small hull."

"You've made a ship before," Calypso said. "Your Argo II."

Leo nodded. That boat took a long time to build. He hoped this one would take long too.

"So how long until you sail?" She asked. Leo scowled at the question. Clearly she was going to bring up the taboo, whether Leo liked it or not.

"Uh, not sure," Leo replied unenthusiastically. "Another week?" He said, more as a hope than as an accurate guess. A lot could happen in a week.

He watched as Calypso ran her fingers over the completed navigation device, which sat on the ground in front of them. His own hand tingled just looking at hers.

"This took so long to make," she smiled, admiring the piece.

"You can't rush perfection," Leo reminded her.

"Yes, but will it work?" She asked. They had gotten the device to appear to be working, but he wouldn't know for certain until he was away from the island, when he could pin point his actual location on the map. But honestly, finding the Argo II again was the least of his worries. Finding this _island_ again, on the other hand…

"Getting out, no problem," Leo assured her. "But to get back, I'll need Fetus and – "

"What?" She interrupted him.

"Festus," he looked at her. He thought he had told her about him. "My bronze dragon. Once I figure out how to rebuild him, I'll – "

"You told me about Festus," she waved her hand impatiently. "But what do you mean, _get back_?"

Leo's stomach twisted. He realized he had not explicitly told her about his plan to come back. It had become such an integral part of his quest that he'd forgotten that she didn't actually… _know_ about it.

He scratched his head and laughed awkwardly. "Well to get back here, duh," he tried to joke. She was watching him intently, like she might need to defend herself against him. "I'm sure I said that," he said unconvincingly.

"You most definitely did not," she replied with a dangerous edge in her voice. It hurt a little. Leo supposed perhaps she didn't actually _want_ him to come back. He hadn't thought of that.

"I'm not gonna just leave you here!" He insisted. "After you helped me and everything?" _For crying out loud_ , he thought. _You deserve better than this._ "Of course I'm coming back," he told her. "Once I rebuild Festus, he'll be able to handle an improved guidance system. There's this astroblabe that I, uh - " he supposed he didn't need to mention it was Odysseus who made it – "that I found in Bologna. Anyway, I think with that crystal you gave me – "

"You can't come back," Calypso said decisively.

Leo felt like he had just been stabbed in the chest. _Ouch_. He grimaced. "Because I'm not welcome," he muttered, looking down at his hands.

"Because you _can't_ ," she insisted. Her voice cracked, and Leo looked at her again. "It is _impossible_. No man finds Ogygia twice. That is the _rule_."

Leo couldn't help it. He grinned. So she did _want_ him to come back. She just didn't realize that Leo Valdez could do anything he put his mind to. "Yeah, well, you might have noticed I'm not good at following _rules_ ," he rolled his eyes. "I'm coming back here with my dragon," he assured her, "and we'll spring you. Take you wherever you wanna go. It's only fair."

Calypso didn't look so sure. Actually, she looked like she was about to cry. "Fair…" she whispered. She looked down at her knees.

"You didn't really think I could start Leo and Calypso's Auto Repair without Calypso, did you?" He said. It pained him to see her looking so defeated. Gods, she looked _so_ … well... _hopeless._ He had to get her to smile. To laugh. He _loved_ her laugh. "I can't make cider and stew, and I _sure_ can't sing," he tried.

She just stared at the sand. He couldn't read her expression. He sighed in agitation, and looked back out at the water. He swallowed a lump in his throat. "Well, anyway," he continued, a bit too loudly, "Tomorrow, I'll start on the lumber, and in a few days…" His voice trailed off, and he suddenly noticed something wooden floating in the water, batting against the shore. Was that… a _raft?_

Before Leo could even process what was happening, Calypso was already running towards the water with two large supply bags in her hands. "Hurry!" She exclaimed. "I don't know how long it will stay!"

Leo stood up slowly. Wait _what?_ He was _leaving?_ _Now?_

Dread filled his stomach. He didn't want to leave yet! He still had to build a boat! But wait… "That's the magic raft?" he asked. His mind was trying to comprehend what was happening, but it wasn't making any sense.

"Duh!" Calypso yelled back at him. "It might work like it's supposed to and take you to where you want to go, but we can't be sure. The island's magic is obviously unstable."

 _Huh?_

"You must rig up your guidance system to navigate," she insisted. She grabbed the console from the ground and ran back towards the raft.

Leo grabbed a few more supplies bags and ran after her. He took the device from her and helped her rig it to the raft. They connected it to the small rudder in the back of the boat, attached their sail to the mast, and carried the rest of the supplies on board. Everything was happening so fast that Leo didn't even have time to think about what he was doing. He muttered a quick prayer to his father and got the Archimedes Sphere up and running.

"Go," Calypso said. Leo turned around. She was still on the beach.

"The raft finally got here," he stated. Which meant he was just supposed to – _leave?_ He repeated this idea over and over, but it still was not computing. Why was she just standing there? _Get on the raft you lunatic!_ He wanted to shout at her.

Calypso snorted. "You just noticed?" She crossed her arms.

Leo was finally starting to catch up with the meaning of all of this. He was leaving because the raft had come. Why had the raft come? "But if it only shows up for guys you like – "

"Don't push your luck, Leo Valdez," she said coldly. He noticed that he was standing much closer to her than he had realized. She smelled like cinnamon. Her eyes still looked sad. "I still hate you."

Leo tried to read her expression, but it was dark. He had feeling she wanted to tell him something else. "Okay," he said uncertainly.

"And you are _not_ coming back here," she said sternly. "So don't give me any empty promises."

 _That_ Leo did comprehend, and he was not going to accept it. "How about a full promise?" He held out his arms. "Because I am definitely – "

And then suddenly her lips were pressed against his and her hands were in his hair, and all he could feel was the sensation of _her_ – her smell, her taste, her touch, her _everything_ – and his insides burned with hot coals and electricity.

Then it disappeared.

When he opened his eyes she was staring at him in as much disbelief as he felt. "That didn't happen," she choked. She looked… _terrified._

"Okay," he squeaked out.

"Get out of here," she ordered.

"Okay," he squeaked again.

And before he could figure out if she was angry or sad or scared – she ran up the beach and then was gone.

Leo was feeling so many different things at once he didn't know what to feel. The raft suddenly jolted and he quickly got on, right as the waves pushed it off the shore and sped him away from the island.

He turned to look back at the beach and let out a breath. _She just kissed me._

Leo's heart sky-rocketed and then immediately crashed back down.

Styx.

 _That's right_ , he thought. _Styx_. An idea that he had been chewing on rose to the surface again. Something about a seventh wheel, and an oath to keep with a final breath.

So Leo knew exactly what he was doing when he swore it.

"I'm coming back for you, Calypso. I swear it on the River Styx."

* * *

 **A/N: I hope you liked it! Thanks for reading and please review so I know what you are thinking!**


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